Hungary’s new Minister of Transport and Investment, David Vitézy, has stated that numerous problems have been identified in the Belgrade–Budapest railway project, Danas reports. Speaking in parliament, he said that it is fair to ask whether Hungary and Serbia have genuinely managed to direct the development of the rail link between Belgrade and Budapest in the right way.
“The answer is probably no. It is enough to look at the connections with major transport hubs such as Budapest International Airport, Kecskemét and Szeged. It is also necessary to seek the opinion of the competent authorities and ensure full transparency,” he stressed.
According to the Hungarian minister, permission should be sought from the Chinese authorities to make the contracts, their amendments and all accompanying documentation publicly available, along with data on costs and accounts. “The situation has not yet been fully resolved. Although completion of the railway has been delayed due to certain problems, a number of technical and safety issues remain outstanding. As already mentioned, the railway signalling and traffic management systems have not yet been fully commissioned,” Vitézy revealed.
He added that additional testing and inspections are currently being carried out, which are necessary to ensure that the system can operate safely. These procedures have not yet been completed, resulting in further delays, he said, adding: “It is certain that the system cannot be put into operation, nor can it be fully paid for, until it has been proven to meet all the prescribed safety standards.”
He emphasised that it is often claimed that the Chinese contractors did not know what they were doing.
“I do not wish to defend anyone, but the contract clearly shows that certain technical solutions were known in advance. It is true that the railway was designed for speeds of up to 200 kilometres per hour and that, for this reason, it was built almost as an entirely new route. However, a large number of level crossings remain, which represents a serious shortcoming. As a result, the designed speed cannot be fully utilised in practice. In other words, we have built a railway for 200 kilometres per hour, but on certain sections the speed will be limited to 160 kilometres per hour precisely because of these unresolved crossings,” he explained.
For all these reasons, Vitézy concluded, it can be said that mistakes were made on several levels in this project.
(eKapija, 03.06.2026)